E-cigarettes Health Risk: Are They As Bad As The Real Thing?

E-cigarettes may pose a health risk not dissimilar to real cigarettes, a study has found.

The National Consumer Institute, a French magazine, asserted on Monday that E-Cigarettes contain: “A significant quantity of carcinogenic molecules,” which has so far gone undetected.

E-Cigarettes utilize heat to essentially vaporize the liquid nicotine which is inhaled when puffing, to offer smokers their much needed fix. As they contain no tobacco nor produce smoke, they have until now been considered safe, with no health implications for the user.

The French magazine which broke the story about the new research says that researchers, using a new method of testing, found that the amount of formaldehyde in some E-cigarettes was that of tobacco cigarettes. Formaldehyde is a known carcinogen which is known to be adverse to health.

If that wasn’t enough a very toxic molecule, known as acrolein, was detected in some E-cigarettes. The report said that some of the samples tested showed even higher levels of the molecule than in cigarettes.

“The small studies that have been done so far hint at both pros and cons; one found that smokers cut back on real cigarettes after trying the electronic kind, while another found particles of metal and and silicates in e-cigarette vapor that could cause breathing problems. It would be great if e-cigarettes turned out to be the breakthrough that gets people to give up smoking tobacco. In the meantime, we should all be careful that e-cigarettes not perpetuate a habit that society has come a long way toward snuffing out.”

Not everyone is convinced though by the new research. Lindsay Fox from the New York Times, a long time advocate of E-cigarettes, said:

“Allowing anti-smoking ideology to dictate e-cig legislation would condemn smokers to using ineffective quitting strategies or dying premature, tar-sodden deaths, but evidence-based regulation that prioritizes public health would cause a revolution in tobacco harm reduction.”

It remains to be seen what other E-cigarettes health scares will be revealed as more research is carried out on them. What do you think of E-cigarettes? Are they safe? are you concerned about the latest research, if you are a smoker? Share your comments in the feed below.